Pigs and drones add up to busy season for convention centre

WE hear the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre is experiencing a record financial year so far, leaving no doubts Brizvegas is now in the meetings big league.

Bob O'Keefe, CEO of Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

WE hear the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is experiencing a record financial year so far, leaving no doubt Brizvegas is now in the meetings big league.

BCEC boss Bob O’Keeffe tells your diarist that the centre has just completed its biggest quarter in financial terms since opening in 1995. BCEC is set to host a record 165 conferences this year.

“We are on track for a cracker of a year,” says O’Keeffe, without disclosing actual revenue figures. “The centre is sitting on 1459 event bookings in the future and 470 conferences.” Among the recent conferences have been an eclectic mix including drugs, drones and of all things the digestive physiology of pigs.

Illustration of Bob O'Keefe by Brett Lethbridge.

In the past week, some 4,500 delegates have attended conferences including the 25th Congress of the International Federation of Hospital Engineering in conjunction with the 42nd World Hospital Congress. Next month welcomes the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture.

To put everything in perspective, O’Keeffe tells us that last month the 73,567 visitors to the centre ate their way through four tonnes of fresh fish, 650kg of asparagus, 500kg of avocadoes, 3½ tonnes of fresh fruit, 14 tonnes of fresh vegetables, four tonnes of beef and 6000 litres of beer. Just thinking of that gives City Beat indigestion.

LIFE’S A BEACH

ICON Group founder Cathie Reid has just returned from a whirlwind tour of the Paris fashion shows, the highlight of which was a day at the beach featuring the latest apparel from Chanel. The French fashion house transformed the historic Grand Palais into an artificial beach for its show complete with real sand and water. The only draw back, according to Brisbane-based Reid, was that sand got stuck in her expensive pair of Chanel shoes. Your diarist has the same problem when he heads down to Sandgate in his $10 flip flops from Kmart.

SAFE HANDS

A BIG coup for Brisbane defence equipment supplier EPE, with the Royal Australian Navy in Darwin this week testing a prototype of a device designed to detect everything from explosives and narcotics to chemical warfare agents. The portable device can be operated from a safe distance of more than 40 metres, meaning it will save the lives of our service people. Headed by former Australian Army engineer Warwick Penrose, EPE was earlier this year named by Defence Magazine as one of the top SME suppliers to the Australian defence forces. It is a big industry that is set to get bigger. Australian defence spending is expected to increase from $32.4 billion in fiscal year 2016-17 to $58.7 billion in 2025-26.

END OF THE ROAD

THE Eagle Farm Racetrack end of upmarket Racecourse Rd used to be the place to be seen. Remember the popular Baguette Restaurant run by Francis and Marilyn Domenech? But years of redevelopment at the racetrack and falling attendance at the soon-to-be defunct Sunday market appear to have taken its toll.

In the shopping centre on the corner of Lancaster Rd and Racecourse Rd, five of the seven shops are empty. Across the road, there also are For Lease signs propped up in a couple of windows. The markets, which used to channel hundreds of people up that end of the “the road” every Sunday, is closing after eight years, adding to problems that are also afflicting other shopping strips around Brisbane.

NIGHT OF NIGHTS

With the franchise industry copping a bit of flack this year, all eyes will be on the Franchise Council of Australia’s annual excellence awards in Melbourne next Tuesday. We hear Brisbane-based Battery World general manager Rowan Hodge and national marketing and brand manager Rachael Matheson aren’t quite biting their nails, but the company is a finalist for two major awards “Established Franchisor of the Year” and “Excellence in Marketing.” Good luck guys.